the ball is out and there's a pile-up. -let's go! -get in the pile! ugh, i'll deal with this tomorrow. you won't. it's ripe in here. my eyes are watering. i'm a busy man. look how crusty this is. shameful. ugh, it's just too much. not with this. tide. tide can tackle any pile. that a tackle pun? just clean the pile, ron. okay. this too. that was easy. when stains and odors pile up, it's got to be tide. >> steve: good morning,

everybody, it is wednesday, january 3rd, 2024. >> and we start this second hour of "fox & friends" with a developing story. that man right there, new jersey's long time senator robert menendez is back in the spotlight following new corruption allegations. >> ainsley: the embattled democrat is now facing even more bribery charges. this time for allegedly helping the qatari government in exchange for lavish gifts. >> lawrence: this is unbelievable. peter doocy is live from the white house with more on this. hey, peter. >> peter: the word was "allegedly" out all around the world. if you want the u.s. senator to say something nice about your country just buy him something expensive. that's what the united states government is alleging now that there are these text messages showing the following. it's pretty extraordinary. bob menendez gets a text from a businessman with ties to the qatari government that says how about one of these? and it's photos of two watches ranging from $9,900 to $23,990. that was allegedly in exchange for a very qatar-friendly press

release on the new jersey senator's letterhead and different than the allegations that menendez worked to advance egyptian interest in exchange for cash and gold bars. so now the menendez charges are bribery, honest services fraud, and extortion. the menendez legal team pushing back this morning. they say the government's new allegations stink of desfather ration. despite what they have touted in press releases the government does not have the proof to back up any of the old or new allegations against senator menendez john fetterman writes now accused of selling his honor and our nation for a $24,000 watch accused of a foreign agent for two nations. how much more before we finally expel senator menendez? and that is a good question, senator fehrman. he hasn't been -- he has not been convicted of anything. the senate democratic leadership has not moved to expel him.

and that's not all. he could actually get reelected by new jersey voters later on this year. he has not dropped out. >> lawrence: just to be clear, peter, he hasn't been removed off the ballot. there is no, i guess, secretary of state trying to get him removed. but he also hasn't been removed from the senate, which george santos was for something similar, right? [laughter] >> peter: there has been a lot of stories in the news about people removing candidates from ballots for things that they have not been convicted in court for this. is a sticky thing for democrats. because some of them are saying donald trump should be disqualified for insurrection. he hasn't been convicted of insurrection yet. and so all these, it kind of waters down the talking point talking point for some of these democrats. he has due process and they are going to let it play out.

and if it takes a long time, again, he could get reelected in new jersey. >> brian: we haven't seen senator schumer weigh in yet. we know that governor murphy's wife is running for that slot. so, i don't see anyone rallying around him. fetterman has probably been the most vocal. >> steve: well i haven't lived in new jersey for a long time i don't know what the political impact of getting a text message or somebody tries to give you a watcher in exchange for a nice press release about qatari government is. >> steve: you are right, peter. you haven't lived in new jersey a long time. when are you going to come get your junk? >> peter: you know, my trunk is really full right now. and i think i saw adam klotz said there is going to be snow this weekend. >> steve: not this he could would. going back to why he has not been expelled. doesn't that come down to balance of power in the u.s. senate? right now democrats hold the balance of power. >> lawrence: tight margin. >> steve: bob menendez leaves,

they are at 50. >> peter: when there is a vacant governor murphy can appoint whoever he wants. but it does come down to a balance of power thing. and for whatever reason, they have not moved to expel him yet. but he has got rights. so he is -- yeah. >> steve: peter, one final question. george santos was mentioned a moment ago because he was expelled -- essentially booted out of the house, did you see the story that george santos wants a job in the trump administration? >> peter: ice director. i believe. why we take the pay cut? he is not going to make cameo money working for the federal government. >> lawrence: good point. >> ainsley: how much is he making on that site? >> steve: he says he is making $80,000 a day or a week something like that. >> ainsley: tell the folks at home what that site does, pay for them to send you a message.

>> peter: essentially pay them to say whatever you want. please say this here is my venmo. and then it just gets sent to you within 24 hours. >> steve: all right. peter, thank you very much. >> ainsley: i mean it's still bad but so good, right? >> brian: is he a bit of a celebrity. >> but now the republicans are down to three. three seat advantage as mccarthy leaves, too. meanwhile, the president of the united states got bad polling yesterday. one of the polls showed that when it comes to the african-american vote, he got 80% of it last time. now he is down to 63%. you can also count charlamagne tha god off that list of biden supporters. >> steve: exactly. in october, politico rode around with him, spent the day with him here in midtown -- or in manhattan on his ride to work and at work. and, you know, among her things charlamagne says he doesn't consider himself a democrat or republican. he says he regrets supporting joe biden and telling people to vote for joe biden because he

was essentially 100 percent behind kamala harris. he loved the fact that kamala harris was vice president. going to be vice president. and so that's why he threw all the support behind biden-harris ticket. but now he said, among other things, he thinks the -- here we are three years in. he thinks joe biden is a lousy messenger and he lacks basic political skills like donald trump lawrence i think he learned from the people he has been traveling around the country talking. to say so often when you get in positions even, you know, us sitting here on the show and not connecting with the people on the day-to-day basis. you think hey, let's just choose the mainstream person, the person that is more palatable. i learned my lesson back in 2016 when i said there was no way donald trump can be elected. when you have people, average day americans say i relate to the guy. that he was the same thing that happened with charlamagne he thought kamala was the person. black americans as well as other americans talking with saying

this just bad. she hasn't represented us. she hasn't done anything for us. we want someone else. >> steve: she disappeared he says. >> ainsley: talking about the state of the democratic party, says it's almost like democrats are doing this purity test. america is not pure. the people of america are not pure. we're flawed. i have learned my legislative from doing that. once they got in the white house, she, meaning kamala, kind of disappeared. when i give people my word like yo, man, i think we should be supporting kamala harris for vice president because she is going to hold it down. when we say those things and people don't see her holding it down, that causes issues. he says damn, you told us to vote for them. do you know how many people say that to me all the time? >> brian: to add this though, i would like to know who he blames. because you get this opportunity. it's up to you to make the most of it. you can go out there. no one is stopping her from making speeches. no one is stopping her from

making an impact in interviews. no one is stopping her from doing a good job on the border or doing a good job on voting rights, however they label that by being outspoken. i mean, remember, donald rumsfeld, for example, no one knew of rumsfeld that much. he had an opportunity as secretary of defense, he kind of defined himself. pete buttigieg had an opportunity as secretary of transportation to define himself. he has dropped the ball precipitously. he has not performed. if you are voting for somebody for vice president, that's kind of interesting, but i also would like to know who he blames for the fact that she, in his terms, has disappeared. she has been totally ineffective. dick cheney, does anyone think dick cheney wasn't effective. does anyone think mike pence wasn't effective? they played vital -- al gore reportedly had vital roles in the clinton administration. it doesn't matter whether you created policy, when you get that job, it's up to you to do something. >> ainsley: do you know what i love charlamagne said. i'm not looking for a politician to be pure. i'm looking for my politician to be effective because, if you look at both of these guys, if

it's donald trump and joe biden. can you say they have their laws, whatever they might be, but who is going to be effective with our country at stake. >> steve: he was behind her because she was going to be historic. now we are here three years later and he has great regret. regarding 2024 which we are now in, hard to believe we have been talking about 2024 for so many years now it's 2024. he says this, regarding the frontrunners. he said in 2024, it is a race between the cowards, the crooks, and the couch. and is he referring to joe biden, donald trump, and the option to stay home. >> ainsley: it's not "fox & friends," the curvey couch. >> steve: maybe that would be a good addendum to it. he says he thinks the couch is going to win. >> ainsley: meaning people stay home? >> steve: look at so many people doing the polls yesterday, one in five young people, one in five african-americans want somebody else. if they are not -- you know a good choice at the top, they might stay home.

>> brian: steve, more than ever, they have a choice, right? more than ever, they have r.f.k. i think the no labels people is going to give an option. you got jill stein going to be an option. you are going to have a lot of options when it comes to voting for president. i think joe manchin is getting in. >> ainsley: who do you think trump pick as the vice president? >> brian: i think if i was to say right now, i think elise stefanik. >> ainsley: really? not one of the other presidential candidates? >> brian: kristi noem is a finalist. byron donalds certainly seems to be a finalist. i think the president was asking questions about nikki haley. but kari lake is running for senate. i think that when you see what elise stefanik just did and see how strong she is and how smart she is, she hits -- she checks a lot of boxes. >> steve: except the home state thing because he knows he would not win new york. so generally people pick a vice president based on a state when -- >> brian: he was going to win indiana.

>> ainsley: i remember doing that. >> lawrence: going to be a big race, big year. >> steve: meanwhile refresh your recollection on the move? >> lawrence: u-haul releases the list of the most popular states to move. we will let you guest what most of them have in common. >> steve: something about the red and the yellow. >> ainsley: as we put it on the screen. plus a bizarre case that captivated america. it's such strange story. an 8-year-old or fan accused of being a fully grown adult by her adopted family. >> supposed to be my dad. you are supposed to be the one to protect me. >> natalia really needs some answers. you have to dig to get to the truth. >> ainsley: we talk to a legal analyst who covered the case. >> brian: that reminds me of nothing else ever in my life. biden has a solution to the border crisis. >> steve: congressman jim jordan is going to join us live from texas he visits the border today with some fellow republicans.

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♪ >> brian: a lot of reasons to watch fox today but there's a lot of exciting news happening we're going to be covering. for example, a state department is going to have a briefing. what are they going to say about secretary of state blinken putting off his trip to the middle east after take out hamas leader over in lebanon with hezbollah. it was a targeted hit from a drone. got a lot of things to talk about, including that trip to mexico right before the new year's. white house press briefing today the president back in action today. he has got to be talking about a possible deal when it comes to the border, ukraine aid, we know there was a russian blitz last night as well as israel aid and what about taiwan getting the weapons they paid for already the entire g.o.p. congressional leaders are in the border getting a tour from congressman rodriguez about what the exact issues are. not just that it's bad but the policies that need to come out of this negotiation that's happening right now and took place during the break led on the republican side by senator

lankford of oklahoma. that's a quick look at what is happening today. ainsley has got something else important. ainsley, take it away. >> ainsley: stand right there. this is the craziest case you have ever seen. i have been watching this show. it was a story that shocked america. you might not have heard about it yet because it was a local case in indiana. but natalia grace was only 8 years old when her adoptive parents made her move out. claiming she was not 8 years old. she was actually like in her 20's. 22 years old. she was an adult. they changed her birth certificate who terrorized them and now they say she terrorized them. now she is telling her side of the story. watch this. >> how did they shut these doctors up? how did they hide all of this evidence? >> natalia was the instrum to propagate the law. >> i was a kid. you just took their word for it? >> you are supposed to be my dad. you are supposed to protect me. >> natalia needs some answers. michael needs to put this to rest. you have to dig to get to the truth. >> ainsley: our next guest has

covered this case from the very beginning. you just saw her. she is in the documentary. former prosecutor and legal analyst beth karras and she joins us now. beth, holy cow, this is the weirdest story. tell the viewers at home a summary of what happened. >> so this child was adopted from ukraine by a family in new hampshire in 2008. but for whatever reason they gave her up. they have not spoken. this family. >> ainsley: they think she is 6 years old when they adopt her. >> they actually got her when she was 4. >> ainsley: this is the first family. >> the first family. and then she is adopted by the barn nets. they are the subjects of this whole series. in 2010. and the barn nets quickly think that she may not be the age they thought she was. they thought she was 6 years old. so, everything falls apart. >> ainsley: things happen a little bit later in life. >> correct. >> they actually, within two years, get her re-aged to 15 years older. at the time she is 8.

they have her reaged to 22. this all comes out in a series. very strange to jump 15 years. a jump signs it. it's a one-sided hearing. natalia wasn't there. she had no representation. a judge had a letter from a doctor saying he believed she was older and the judge said okay, i'm going to make you 22. >> ainsley: all this time the parents saying she is terrorizing at the edge of the bed. doing this to change her age so they can put her in an apartment by herself. >> so they can get rid of her, basically, right. to say try to get her committed to a psychiatric facility and that facility is like there is nothing wrong with her. >> ainsley: a crazy story there are three different seasons. i was watching i made it to two seasons. tonight is the season finale of season two. y'all should watch it. it is crazy. it's on id and on max. >> correct. >> which used to be hbo. hbo max and i think i found it on apple tv, too. the curious case of natalia grace which is like the curious

case of benjamin button because she is a little person. >> she little person. that's right it. has a lot of twists and turns. it ends on a head scratcher tonight. because i mean, my head has been whipping around for the last year and a half. >> i want to know what happens. >> i cannot tell you. you have to watch. >> ainsley: are the parents crazy they end up getting divorced. are they crazy? is she the villain? are they the villain. >> the truth is hard to get. to say. >> ainsley: they interview the kids. they interviewed the oldest son that was their biological son. >> a lot of times when you are trying to get to the truth you find there is a little bit of truth on both sides. one side is lying more than the other. and that's what is happening here. >> ainsley: children are involved. i was so glad to see your face pop up on the screen okay, i do trust her. >> thank you. >> ainsley: you're welcome. a missing foreign exchange student rescued from a snowy mountain side after a case of cyber kidnapping. the bizarre crime. plus, some 60 republican lawmakers are set to go down there to the border. they are visiting eagle pass.

that's going to happen today as the federal government fights to remove existing border barriers. congressman jim jordan will be there and he's going to join us from texas, next. plus, this adorable texas toddler is calming down her dogs before mealtime. that's coming up next. look at what she says. say grace. >> say grace. say grace. say grace. say grace.

♪ [typing] you were made to act spontaneously. we were made to help plan accordingly. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ steve all right. welcome back. police have released this footage the moment a missing foreign exchange student from china was rescued from that snowy mountainside in utah. they say the 17-year-old victim of a growing threat called cyber

kidnapping. todd piro is here to try to make sense of all of this, todd. so, there is a reason he was up there. so he could not be found. >> todd: another bizarre story. police found the 17-year-old shivering inside a tent in the snow earlier this week. they say he and his family in china are the victims, like you said, of what is called a cyber kidnapping. inside the tent, officials found several phones they think were used to orchestrate this crime. officials believe the 17-year-old is being controlled by the kidnappers as early as december 20th. they ordered the teen to stay away from loved ones for fear that those loved ones would be harmed. the teen was first reported missing last week after his parents in china say they received a ransom note claiming he had been abducted in response his parents wire 80,000 to do so bank accounts in china. now, during the investigation, police were working alongside the u.s. embassy in china. authorities in utah say cyber kidnapping and other virtual scams are a growing threat

targeting chinese students studying abroad. >> cyber concerns will target young foreign exchange students and they will lead them to believe that their family is in danger in china. they will tell them if they don't do exactly what they say, then their family will be harmed. >> that teen was found cold and scared but luckily he did not suffer any injuries but, steve and brian, this is just another bizarre story and really begs the question like how do they go about it? obviously we hope to learn more in the coming days and months about the intricacies involved. >> brian: china must be like what the hell is going on in america? >> todd: great point. >> brian: they probably think that every day anyway. happening today nearly a third of the house g.o.p. conference will get a firsthand look at the growing border crisis when they visit eagle pass, texas. crossing after a record 302,000 migrant surge last month and over 7 million since biden took office as biden's doj asked the supreme court to get this let them remove razor wire put up by

texas authorities and it's cost them 11 presidential to do what the federal government won't do by the way. our next guest is one of those g.o.p. lawmakers visiting the border today. joining us live from texas with a preview. congressman, you have been down before. you don't need a primmer. you need specifics on what you need in this deal on the border, correct? on a asylum changes, border finishing the technology, tell us what you are looking for. >> well we need the legislation we passed several months ago that would fix the problem. but if they are not going to do that, then just do one sentence, one sentence change. that sentence is real simple. no money can be used to process or release into the country any new migrants. stop the problem right now. just say we're not going -- call a complete time-out. because, brian, understand the magnitude of the problem is as you said 300,000 last month a record month. but the biden presidency on pace at the end of his four years he will have allowed into the country when you think about the got-aways and everything else,

12 million illegals. 12 million migrants. that's the equivalent of the entire population of ohio, the 7th largest state. that is the magnitude of the problem. and, of course, we know the cause, the cause is the biden administration, their crazy policies that they adopted on day one. and it continues today with the doj saying take down the razor wire, texas. just let them keep come in. we want to go even more than 12 million for goodness sakes, the solution, i think is one sentence. the question is do republicans have the will to fight for that one simple sentence which says we're going to fix this problem? >> brian: right. you actually and you know this better than anyone. you have something you rarely have. you have leverage. because he wants the money for the wars for ukraine, potential war in taiwan and israel a lot of you guys on the same page as that you say not until the border is fixed including guys like lindsey graham all three conflicts worth financing. he knows nothing changes without that he could lose all three during the next year. here is what president biden said last night.

listen. . . . >> brian: he says he needs the money -- he goes get him the money to protect the border. >> it's not the money. it's the will. remember what he did on january 20th, 2021, he changed the three policies from the trump administration that were working. he said no more building the wall. no more remain in mexico while we evaluate your claim. when we get you, when you come, in you will be released no. detention, no detaining these individuals no, returning them to their country. when you make those three changes who can fault people for wanting to come to the greatest country ever. they just keep coming. of the magnitude of this problem the country now fully understands even democrat mayors in chicago and new york understand how serious this problem is will we have the will to do?

will republicans say no, you are not getting the money for x unless do you that one sentence or implement a house bill 2, the legislation we passed which would in effect -- would deal with the problem. >> brian: the house getting briefed regularly. right now on the senate side lankford is leading the republican cause. he said they met throughout the break except for christmas and christmas eve. have you been briefed on anything encouraging or discouraging. >> no. we follow briefings in the press. i talked with speaker johnson last night because he is down here leading this trip. but we haven't gotten anything new. we will see what they come up with understand, we are not going to fund ukraine unless it actually solves the problem on the border. i think the simplest solution is the one i have just offered which is that one basic sentence just call -- and the president can do this on his own. we know he won't. so we should fight for that one sentence. we should fight for h.r. 2. that's how we solve this problem. >> brian: you see, congressman, i have to let you go here, too. i know you got to get out to the border. the thing that's different is you have a war between the

cities and states. he never anticipated a blue state and red state fighting really on the same page when it comes to the border needs to be endorsed. that's additional leverage that you have. mayors turning on the president who are now turning on governors. he is ripping this country apart by ignoring. >> yeah, sure is. >> brian: ignoring something vital to our national security. congressman, don't let up you have coverage. use it? >> you bet, brian. >> brian: over toins ally. >> ainsley: now more headlines for you. a fox weather alert. rescue workers in a race against time as they are still searching for survivors at 7.6 magnitude earning that rocked japan this week. japan's prime minister says officials have received reports that, quote: many people are still waiting for rescue under collapsed buildings. say prayers for all those people. at least 62 are now confirmed dead. and that number is, of course, expected to rise, unfortunately. then here at home, clean-up is

underway this morning after a car plowed into a fire hydrant overnight. this happened in los angeles county. a stream of water was shooting higher than the traffic lights. and officials say that the man and the woman inside the car as they jumped out they ran off before police showed up. an adorable video showing a toddler from texas with her hands full as she is helping to feed the family's three dogs when it's dinner time. but she makes sure that they remember a very important step before they are allowed to chomp down on the food. >> say grace. say grace. say grace. say grace for our food. the 3-year-old's dad says that he hopes this will give her a sense of accomplishment ever time she feeds her four-legged friends. how darling is that? they are so excited. >> steve: that's ar adorable. >> ainsley: they have to get down and calm down. >> lawrence, you are a dog trainer. how do you think those dogs were trained or they just listen to

her? >> lawrence: you know, dogs have a weird connection with humans, so i think the vibrations from the girl, even a child can get a dog to be obedient. three very different dogs and they all are paying attention to her because they know she has got the gravy train. >> lawrence: exactly. >> ainsley: doesn't it remind you when you sit down at the dinner table growing up with three kids? >> steve: 100 percent. >> ainsley: all unruly and talking with each other and fighting and playing with toys. mom and dad say say grace you stop and give the lord praise. >> lawrence: she was patient with them she said say grace, please. >> brian: you are descrigging your family is worse behaved than these dogs. [laughter] >> ainsley: we were. >> ainsley: we definitely. were there. >> brian: i found out my dog who is now coming up on 2, still trying to destroy certain things. >> ainsley: willow. >> brian: willow trying to destroy certain things that we like. i don't know if she knows the difference between a toy and a remote. but she doesn't seem to.

>> lawrence: she just destroys. >> ainsley: she destroyed your remote. >> steve: you don't need a remote on your house it's always on the fox news channel. just throw it away. >> brian: once in a while watch nickelodeon just to escape. >> ainsley: pay the cable guy to come out. >> brian: i refuse to modernize my system. show up every time. we only give refurbish boxes unless did you go to the new system. i don't want to go to the new system. >> steve: there are ways to control. >> brian: i ask you, lawrence, is my dog doing this on purpose? >> lawrence: yes. because you let him get away with it. >> ainsley: do you laugh about it or mad. >> brian: mad. i never see him in action. >> steve: brian, you got to be the alpha male with the dog. >> brian: i'm not there when it happens. >> lawrence: nala has never ever destroyed anything. >> ainsley: that's the way you train her. you knead to help brian with his dog. >> brian: do you want to live with me? >> ainsley: why not. >> lawrence: you need one more person? >> ainsley: why not. everyone else does.

>> steve: doing the show 26 years never heard that before. >> ainsley: three kids. all their friends are always at the house. soccer team over there. go on over,. >> brian: this is uncle lawrence working with willow today. >> lawrence: dawn needs some help. >> brian: both going to be here and she still has to shovel. same plane fire we brought to you all morning long. yesterday it happened in tokyo, japan. what we are learning today about what actually happened. >> steve: plus prescription strength controversy because america's largest drugmakers are going to raise prices on more than 500 drugs, maybe one you're using. a pharmacist tells us how you can save a buck coming up. ♪ (vo) if you have graves' disease, your eye symptoms could mean something more. that gritty feeling can't be brushed away. even a little blurry vision can distort things. and something serious may be behind those itchy eyes. up to 50% of people with graves' could develop a different condition called thyroid eye disease,

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>> lawrence: it's a new year and you may soon be seeing new prices on prescriptions as major companies mark up hundreds of drugs. ucb, that kit that, pharmaceuticals pfizer top the list with the most inner creases for at least the second year in a row. pfizer is raising the most price with us a staggering 124 drugs impacted and there could still be more to come. 1425 in 2023. joining me with what you need to

know pharmacist and iowa mayor bret parker. bret, thank you so much for joining the program. >> good morning. >> lawrence: so, mayor, what's causing all of this? i know inflation is hitting prpressure single sector. is it the same here when it comes to pharmaceuticals? >> yeah. i mean, this is something we see almost every year on january 1st. we see it to a lesser extent around july 1st where there are a lot of increases in drug prices is when a lot of those occur a lot of underlying variables. some of the things watching this year in the industry are changes this the inflation reduction act that are happening in the industry and some of the maybe unintended consequences that come from that as well. we see because drugmakers are going to be penalized increasing off launch list prices. it's expected that some drugmakers may actually launch higher than they normally would so they can get around that we

have also seen issues with pharmacy benefit manager and what they are doing with some of the authorized generics of these brands that are less expensive. that's really another underlying reason that drug prices are where they're and prices are high pharmacy benefit managers and they think a lot of viewers may not know who those are the middleman between your pharmacy and your doctor's office and your employer. that are making the decisions in the back end. they touch almost 90% of prescription claims in the united states of america. there are three of them that are all -- so there is three of them that touch almost 90%. all three are fortune 15 companies. throw of the largest most powerful companies in the united states. and they are really a driver behind a lot of the prices we see as well in the industry. >> lawrence: real quickly, bret, any tips for folks? people are already getting hit in every other sector as i was talking about earlier anything recommendations for getting the

prices down. >> one can i advocate for them to find a pharmacist they can actually talk to. i know because of the pharmacy benefit managers i talked about before some folks may be locked into pharmacies they don't want to use. if you have a choice, find a pharmacy that the staff will spending time with you. because the pharmacist and the pharmacy technicians are far more in tune with the prices of drugs and the formularies of the plans than the providers on the other end. the providers that are prescribing them are more insulated from the price. so they may not realize that there might be better options for you. so work with a pharmacist. see what options are out there. you know, there may be something that is cutting edge and there may not be many other options but there may be. there may be drug savings plans, manufacture assistance programs, other ways to access the medication. a lot of rural places may have what is called 340 b a cost savings program that the federal government put in place. so there are ways that you can work with the system. but it's really finding the people that can help you navigate it and be advocates on your behalf.

>> lawrence: yeah. i mean, i guess we shouldn't be shocked that this is happening. i just hope that, you know, when it comes to medicine, americans need this on a day-to-day basis. reach out to your pharmacist, whether small or large, and try to get as many savings as you can. hopefully it gets better. bret, thank you so much for joining the program. >> thank you very much. >> lawrence: you got it. this monday pittsburgh based company is hoping to make history by landing a privately owned spacecraft on the moon. the launch coming more than 50 years after the apollo mission. >> there is so much to learn. there is so much to be excited about. these missions are really challenging and risky. they are going to help us conduct new science. >> lawrence: so the lunar lander will be attached to a rocket and launch from the cape canaveral. let's check in with our meteorologist adam klotz for our fox weather forecast. hey, adam. >> adam: hey, good morning out there, lawrence. what we're going to be talking about eventually maybe outside? some snow on the ground for

millions and millions of folks going to be a big weather story, certainly something we are paying very close attention to. but who all is going to see that snow and who is just going to get to see rain. let's dive into that big weather system forming across the southern united states. a lot of the rain there as this runs up into portions of the mid-atlantic into new england. it becomes a question mark will you see rain? will you see snow or will you see ice? this is the movement of that. and it's been a long time since folks at least across the i-95 corridor from d.c. all the way up to boston have seen significant snowfall. this is our current model. again, this going to happen saturday night into sunday morning. so there is still some time here where things could change. everything in that really light blue is a moderate snowfall. you see that bumps up right along i-95. some of these cities could see is an inch of snow. it has been 688 days since new york city has had a day with an inch of snow or greater. those are your weather headlines, for now, i'm tossing it back inside to you, steve. >> steve: all right. adam. thank you very much.

let's see what happens. right now, officials in japan are investigating what went wrong after yesterday's fatal tokyo run way crash. japanese airline flight reportedly cleared to land before hitting a coast guard plane that was on the ground killing five coast guard members on board that plane. but, miraculously, all 379 of the people on board the commercial flight got out. one passenger saying, quote: the entire cash bin was filled with smoke within minutes. it was chaos. another one adding it was getting hot inside the plane. and i thought, to be honest, i wouldn't survive. pilot michael san toreio is vice president of the southwest pilot association, he joins us right now. michael, good morning to you. >> good morning, steve. >> you watch that video and smoke in the cabin and pan over to the left and there is just an orange glow from the wing being on fire. that's terrifying. >> yeah. i can imagine passengers looking out the window and seeing that

has to be a very nerve-racking event for them. they did a great job evacuating the airplane. faa standards, 90 seconds to evacuate an entire airplane. they did a good job doing that especially without getting a lot of injuries. >> steve: indeed. i was just reading this morning that apparently the on board paye system malfunctioned. and so, you know, somebody couldn't get on the thing and say okay, let's do this. instead, the flight attendants got them out through three doors just by using their voices and they used those mega phones as well. >> yeah. it's amazing, miraculous that they were able to get them out so fast and, again, without injuries. hats off to all those flight attendants on that airplane that did that. >> steve: plus the pilots. i mean, luckily, you have never had to land a plane that was on fire. but they were going down the runway 150 miles per hour and it's on fire. >> yeah. definitely not what you are expecting to land and hit

another aircraft, of course, and then catch on fire. they did a great job stopping the airplane and then obviously turned the engines off which is one of the most important things and getting them -- everybody evacuated. >> steve: michael, one other topic, i was down in florida over the holiday, the airports in florida were pretty much brought to a grinding hawlgt because there was so much volume they had all these ground delays. i think in palm beach the average ground delay time was 223 minutes, almost four hours. because there were so many planes that they needed to keep track of as we were talking about last time you were on, the transportation department does not have enough air traffic controllers, rather than hire as many as we need, they say look at that bottom number delay, 223 minutes. instead of hiring enough people, they just use the people they got and people had to wait. >> yeah. you know, i don't buy the idea that we have extra airplanes in

the air over the holidays. we do have some extra sections flown. but, by and large, you know, it's a staffing problem air traffic control system. they need to obviously increase that. it's a cascading effect when you have delays. airlines have pretty tight schedule and gate management, when you fly into these airports. only a couple gates airlines especially like palm beach. so, you know, if an airplane is delayed, comes behind it, people sit out and wait on the ramp. a new gate is not opened. delays happen and pilots and flight attendants timing out which cause the cancellations and people spending the night in airports they didn't 79 to do. air traffic control needs to figure a way to get more people through their academy and get more air traffic controllers out there. >> steve: plus, the airlines have got to be honest with people because my daughter was supposed to be oan flight that took off at 11:00. instead she got a signal okay it's going to be 1:00.

it's going to be 2:00. it's going to be 5:00. it's going to be 8:00, it's going to be midnight. she got another flight out. that plane didn't take off before noon the next day. so it was a 23-hour -- 25 hour delay. >> yeah. that's obviously not acceptable. sometimes the air traffic control says okay we will have update in an hour. we will have update an hour. which obviously doesn't give much information we are trying to inform passengers what is going on. and then, of course, if we time out as pilots we have to tell them, hey, we need a new crew and obviously in west palm there is no pilots hanging out there go. to the fly another crew in. it turns out being a mess. >> steve: it is a mess. but, what somebody who is sitting in one of the seats supposed to do? >> >> that's a great question. you know, look for other airlines. but if it's air traffic control problem, you're stuck and there is really no great answer. >> steve: yeah.

ainsley said good luck getting a plane seat on a holiday. >> ainsley: if you are leaving the day after new year's on january 1st, leave early in the morning. >> that's a good idea. >> steve: i was going to suggest that you were probably going to say you should fly southwest airlines because you work there. >> i mean, that's a given, right? always fly southwest. >> steve: michael santoro pilot and southwest pilots association. sir, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> steve: all right, coming up on this wednesday still ahead, dave portnoy's huge payday, will he up the ante for the national championship game? we're going to talk to him when he joins us in the next hour of "fox & friends." ♪ >> emergency press conference wholly i'm a million bucks richer [bleep] going to houston diabetes can serve up a lot of questions, like... what is your glucose, and can you have more carbs? before you decide... with the freestyle libre 3 system...

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>> steve: good morning, everybody. it is wednesday, january 3, 2024 and we start final hour of folks with this. you can see screen left, president biden returning from big vacation last night with a lot on his plate including the growing crisis at the southern border